Starz Internet Cafe operated at this Licking County shopping center before strict regulations took effect Oct. 4. Several other similar businesses have closed across Ohio because of the law.

Written by

Jessie Balmert
CentralOhio.com

Disconnected phone lines and shells of buildings are all that remain of many Ohio sweepstakes businesses three months after a law effectively banning their existence took effect.

The law, which went into place Oct. 4, limited Internet cafe prizes to items valued at less than $10 and gave law enforcement officials the authority to prosecute businesses as illegal gambling operations if they do not comply. A last-ditch effort to delay the law and place the decision before voters fell about 71,000 signatures short of the 231,000 needed to make the ballot.